The U.S. government has selected Navitas Semiconductor to develop next-generation 10 kV silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductors, according to StreetInsider. The award places Navitas, a gallium nitride and SiC specialist based in Torrance, California, in a federal program aimed at pushing power devices well beyond the voltage class that dominates today's commercial SiC market.

The 10 kV target matters. Mainstream SiC MOSFETs sold today cluster at 1,200 V and 1,700 V, serving electric vehicle traction inverters, on-board chargers, and industrial drives. Devices rated at 3.3 kV and above remain largely confined to railway traction, grid equipment, and research programs. A 10 kV SiC switch would operate in territory now served almost exclusively by silicon-based insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) stacked in series, a topology that carries significant conduction and switching losses.

At that voltage class, a single SiC device could displace multi-level converter architectures in medium-voltage motor drives, solid-state transformers, and high-power renewable energy systems. Fewer series-connected switches mean simpler gate drive circuitry, higher switching frequencies, smaller magnetics, and better overall efficiency in grid-connected applications.

Navitas entered the high-voltage SiC business through its 2023 acquisition of GeneSiC, which brought a portfolio of SiC MOSFETs and diodes rated up to 3.3 kV for industrial and energy customers. The company's core business, however, remains GaN power ICs for fast chargers and mobile applications, with expansion into AI data center power and EV systems announced over the past two years. A government-backed 10 kV development program extends that roadmap into power classes the company has not previously addressed commercially.

The selection also fits a broader U.S. policy pattern. Washington has funded wide-bandgap semiconductor development through multiple channels, including the CHIPS and Science Act and Department of Energy programs, seeking domestic supply of power devices critical to grid modernization, electric transportation, and defense systems. SiC manufacturing capacity in the U.S. has grown through investments from Wolfspeed in New York and North Carolina and onsemi's expansion in the Czech Republic and elsewhere, but domestic development of ultra-high-voltage SiC device technology remains sparse.

The announcement did not specify the awarding agency, the program's funding value, or a development timeline. StreetInsider reported the selection without detailing performance targets beyond the 10 kV rating or identifying partner organizations that may join the program.

For Navitas, the contract provides a federally anchored development track in a segment where competitors such as Infineon, onsemi, STMicroelectronics, and Rohm have focused their high-voltage SiC efforts mostly at 1.2–3.3 kV. Success at 10 kV would position the company for medium-voltage grid and industrial opportunities as utilities modernize distribution infrastructure for renewable integration and electrified transport.

Commercial availability of 10 kV-class SiC devices would face familiar hurdles: thick epitaxial layer growth, defect control in ultra-high-voltage drift regions, and packaging capable of holding off those voltages reliably over a 20-year field life. Those engineering problems define the gap between a development program and a shipping product.

The program's progress toward qualification and eventual volume production will determine whether Navitas converts the government selection into a defensible position in medium-voltage power semiconductors, or whether it remains a research milestone in a market still dominated by silicon IGBTs.